Official Languages Committee on Sept. 29th, 2016

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Yes.

[Roukya Abdi-Aden]

This organization is responsible for marketing in both official languages. It therefore has a presence in France, for example, and other French-speaking countries. There have been budget cuts in recent years, however, that have greatly affected France. There are fewer resources to promote francophone products in France and very little funding for developing tourism products.

This does affects not only Francophone communities but tourism as a whole in Canada. That is why Canada lost a lot of points and slipped from the 17th to the 16th most popular tourist destination in recent years. It is because we invest very little in developing products and everything goes to marketing. Everything is done in both official languages, however, including promotion.

What Mr. Bigeau really meant is that we have big markets. Yet the French-language companies in the tourism sector are very small. We must help them to be competitive and offer products that can compete with very appealing international tourism products.

So there is a lot of work to be done in developing the products offered.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Vandal, you have the floor now.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Chair, I just wanted to mention something before my colleague takes the floor.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Go ahead, Mr. Généreux.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

I simply want to point out a problem.

When the witnesses start speaking, their microphone is clearly on, but I can't hear them. It takes a while before I can hear them. I don't know if that is normal or if I'm the only with this problem.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

No, it happened to me earlier.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Is it a problem with the sound?

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Maybe the system I am using is defective.

Has anyone else had the same problem?

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

I can hear clearly.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

I like to use the earpiece when you are speaking to each other. Otherwise, I can hear what is being said.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Okay.

Let me know if it happens again.

Mr. Vandal now has the floor.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the witnesses for their presentations.

You began by saying that you had received $69 million under the 2013-18 roadmap. How does that compare to the amount you received under the first roadmap?

[Jean-Guy Bigeau]

I was not with the organization at the time.

I'm not sure, but I could tell you later.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Okay.

[Roukya Abdi-Aden]

It was in the same range.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

I have been told that it was roughly the same amount.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

I am quite familiar with the Conseil de développement économique au Manitoba, the CDEM, which works closely with the Association des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba, the AMBM. Do all the provinces use the same model or is it unique to Manitoba?

[Jean-Guy Bigeau]

It is unique to Manitoba.

It is, however, standard practice for each member to work in both languages in the fields that I mentioned before.

In Manitoba, however, there is a formal relationship with the bilingual municipalities.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

I have only five minutes. That is a not a lot of time.

Can you tell us a bit about the challenges you face? What can we do better in the future? What challenges did you face with the last two roadmaps?

[Jean-Guy Bigeau]

As I said, it would in our view be ideal if the enabling fund model were also available to other departments and sectors.

For example, we spoke about immigration, tourism, and even the environment. With respect to the green economy, we are doing a lot of work in French and in both languages. We want to increase our capacity in this regard. We want to place a greater emphasis on participation. There are also a lot of job creation opportunities in these fields.

It would be helpful for us to have access to additional funding from other departments.

[Roukya Abdi-Aden]

If I may, I would like to add something briefly.

You know that the action plan and the roadmap are leveraged funds. If they remain leveraged funds, we must ensure that regular departmental programs continue to fund francophone activities and initiatives and that the money allocated through the roadmap or the action plan does not replace those programs.

This is a major challenge that we have observed since 2002 or 2003, when the action plan and roadmap came into effect.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

I understand what you are saying.

Can you tell us a bit about the private funding you have obtained for the RDEE?

I know there is a great emphasis in Manitoba on matching private donations and on job creation.

[Jean-Guy Bigeau]

That formula is used in each province and territory. When we have business dealings with private-sector businesses, there is a partnership agreement. For all the initiatives we launch, there is a financial contribution from the private sector, in nearly equal proportions. For example, if we develop a business plan and want to disseminate it, the private sector helps fund its dissemination.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

So those are large amounts of money.